ETHIOPIA | Friday, 25 May 2012 | Views [340]
Leaving Axum after more time than I really needed there, I struck up a conversation with four Americans on my flight to Gondar, a town of around a quarter-million that was also a great dynastic capital and now serves as the gateway to the Simien Mountains ... Read more >
ETHIOPIA | Tuesday, 15 May 2012 | Views [394]
If Varanasi, India was the most exotic destination I have ever visited, it has now been trumped by Axum, Ethiopia. I wanted to see "real" Africa, and that's exactly what I got…limited or no access to almost every resource, abject poverty, clouds ... Read more >
ETHIOPIA | Friday, 11 May 2012 | Views [305]
Boarding the Bombardier 400 Turboprop in Addis, I was surrounded by tourists, all of us cramming into the tiny craft to see the same thing, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. For the first time in 8 weeks, I happened to come across a fellow state-mate, ... Read more >
ETHIOPIA | Tuesday, 8 May 2012 | Views [274]
Just over a century ago, Empress Taitu asked her husband, Menelik II for a house beyond the walls of his mountain fortress in a verdant valley with natural hot springs and a comfortable climate. She called this abode "Addis Ababa", meaning, “New ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 6 May 2012 | Views [261]
Juxtaposition: It's an SAT word that has crept its way into the modern vernacular, and a term that has run through my mind repeatedly since I’ve been here. In my three weeks of Indian travel, I’ve explored almost every amenity top to bottom;... Read more >
INDIA | Thursday, 3 May 2012 | Views [384]
My title line was written by John Lennon, and set to the tune that would later become "Jealous Guy". In 1968, The Beatles spent a few weeks in Rishikesh at the ashram of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Much of what was penned here would appear on what is ... Read more >
INDIA | Sunday, 29 Apr 2012 | Views [195]
My night in Delhi before leaving for the Himalayan foothills was spent with Arjun, an Indian guy I met in Thailand a few weeks ago. It was over dinner that he insisted I stay at Aalia, a luxury resort his family owns near Haridwar. He had told ... Read more >
INDIA | Friday, 27 Apr 2012 | Views [175]
I don't want to come off as negative, and I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from traveling to any of the places I’ve been to so far, but I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve noticed that a lot of travel guides tend ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 25 Apr 2012 | Views [237]
Wow. Varanasi has almost left me speechless. Can you imagine? Of all people…me…speechless. I've never been anywhere even remotely like it, although I’m willing to bet there is no other place like it on Earth. I ... Read more >
INDIA | Friday, 20 Apr 2012 | Views [202]
If Delhi is daunting, then Varanasi is an absolute smack in the face. One of the oldest cities in the world, Varanasi has also been called Benares or Kashi in its long history. It is one of holiest places in Hinduism, sitting on the west bank of ... Read more >
INDIA | Wednesday, 18 Apr 2012 | Views [143]
Delhi is daunting, yet delectable. The cacophony of car horns is constant…crossing the street is like human Frogger …and the sheer population saturation leads to lanes lined in filth. But, it is alive like no other city I've seen, and ... Read more >
THAILAND | Tuesday, 17 Apr 2012 | Views [173]
It might have been inside the in-flight magazine on my return from Phuket where I read about a common Songkran sentiment; the first day is amazing, the second day is not so much fun, and by the third day, you're sick and tired of water being thrown ... Read more >
THAILAND | Friday, 13 Apr 2012 | Views [163]
It wasn't until I was leaving Shanghai for Bangkok that a German guy I’d just met told me I’d be in Southeast Asia for Thai New Year. He said, "Get ready to get wet." Since then, I’d discussed Songkran with a few other people;... Read more >
THAILAND | Thursday, 12 Apr 2012 | Views [278]
I'm quite tickled by the way a lot of place names are pronounced here. Although Phuket is not said as it’s read, the bus terminal I left for Cambodia from is called Mo Chit (the "C" is given an “S” sound) and the islands I took a boat ... Read more >
THAILAND | Friday, 6 Apr 2012 | Views [173]
If Phuket was pronounced with a short "u" sound (which it's not) it would complement the mentality of many visitors here: “Aw Phuket, man, I don’t care what it costs…I’m on vacation!” Unfortunately, I’m not able to ... Read more >
THAILAND | Wednesday, 4 Apr 2012 | Views [259]
So far, I've learned that when someone in Southeast Asia tells you "Ten more minutes" they mean twenty, and so on. What I didn’t know when I wrote my last entry was that we would actually make the remaining 7 hours of what turned out to be a 12-... Read more >
CAMBODIA | Tuesday, 3 Apr 2012 | Views [222]
"Good Luck!" It's a phrase I’ve heard often here, whether it’s from a temple devotee offering incense, or an ambitious tuk-tuk driver jonesing for a fare. It’s interesting, because although I’ve encountered infrequent ... Read more >
CAMBODIA | Friday, 30 Mar 2012 | Views [274]
I almost entitled this entry "One Night in Bangkok" because that's exactly how much time I spent there before leaving Thailand. Don’t get me wrong, I plan to return to the decedent metropolis eventually (probably during Thai New Year’s week) ... Read more >
THAILAND | Thursday, 29 Mar 2012 | Views [329]
It's been a long day. Awake at a quarter 'til five in the morning for my journey to Bangkok, I spent my first hour at the airport standing in the wrong line, although I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why the ticket agent I went to couldn’... Read more >
CHINA | Wednesday, 28 Mar 2012 | Views [234]
TravelPod encourages its contributors to come up with clever blog titles, but I'm starting to run out of ideas for Beijing (I’d considered "I Want You to Play with My Beijing-a-Ling" for this entry) which makes it good that I’ll be leaving ... Read more >
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